Designed by: Regina Moody, Brennen Elementary

1) CORE CURRICULUM OBJECTIVE(S):

Locate and describe state, national and world communities, cities, or counties using a map and/or globe. (3SSG-1)

Describe some ways one’s community has changed over time. (3SSH-1)

Select appropriate reference sources, locate pertinent information, and use the information in a relevant manner as needed or required. (3-AR-1)

GRADE LEVEL:Third    SUBJECT(S):Social Studies, Language Arts

2) OVERVIEW:

 In this lesson, 3rd graders will consider the many exciting and enriching places to visit in South Carolina. Using traditional print and electronic sources, they will identify attractions in and near Columbia and will make a case for their class field trip destination. Students will consider how community opportunities change over time.

3) FOCUS/ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S):

Of the many educational, historical, cultural, and entertainment places to visit in SC, how can we use traditional print sources and technology sources to find out what they are?

What are some local and area (within 25 miles of the city) attractions and events for Columbia children and their families to enjoy?

Can we be sure we have a complete listing of community resources?

How have these community opportunities changed over time?

4) TIME FRAME:

 Four or five, 40 minute sessions are needed for this lesson.

Note:The availability of workstations with internet access will be a primary factor. Students may also need review in using an atlas and in estimating distances between map locations.

5) RESOURCES/MATERIALS:

Rand McNally Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 1998.

Internet sites used in lesson:

www.mapblast.com

Optional sites to use for comparison, if time and interest allow:

Other materials:

Overhead projector

Clear transparencies

Color transparency markers

Transparency of culminating assessment

Internet connection (both classroom and computer lab, if possible)

TV with projection device

Local telephone directory

6) CULMINATING ASSESSMENT:

Students may work individually or cooperatively on the assessment, Find It and Let’s Go! Things to Do in Columbia.

(Included in the supplementary material, along with standards for reviewing student learning.)

The teacher’s decision as to how the assessment will be done should be based on computer availability, instructional levels of the class, or individual student needs.

7) INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Day 1

Explain to the students that they will help determine the destination for their class field trip. Ask them to pretend that they can go anywhere in South Carolina. The class should brainstorm a list of possibilities as the teacher writes them on a transparency. (Include places students have visited as well as only heard about.)

Have students group similar types of attractions (On the transparency, the teacher circles similar items with colored pens), and assign a title to each group or category.

Ask for ideas on how to expand the list. (Answers may include: ask parents, look in encyclopedia article on SC, look for a travel guide to the state, check the telephone directory for area attractions, call the Department of Tourism, etc.) Explain that there are internet resources that can help. (Encourage students to mention if anyone they know has ever gotten travel information online.)

Use a projection device with the computer so class can view the SC State Government internet site. (http://www.state.sc.us) Select "Commerce & Tourism."

Note that this links to two departments within the state government. Under Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, observe that the listings include state or nationally supported attractions, not commercial or private ones. Click on "Tourism;" the screen displays "Attractions/Activities/Interests" along with a Calendar of Events. Notice the URL on the first screen is http://www.travelsc.com. This is a site that can be accessed directly and much faster, rather than going through the SC state site.

Demonstrate this to the students. Show them that the site is listed in our "Favorites" file under travelsc.com.

(Note: site may be renamed as preferred.) End the session by telling the students that they will continue with this activity on the next day, and that "book marking" a site, or putting it in a "Favorites" file makes it very easy to start where one left off.

Day 2

Return to the travelsc.com site and point out elements of the screen design.

(Students need to be taught to distinguish between content and advertisements, and how to tell who is responsible for the information given.) Point out that this site contains a section on SC Facts, but we will click on "Things to Do." This brings up a list of categories under Attractions/Activities/Interests.

Ask the students to compare the 17 categories with their categories’ designations from the previous day. If a category term is not clear, encourage the class to predict what will be included; then open the link to find out. ("Amusements" includes water parks and South of the Border! "Attractions" includes the Best Friend of Charleston Museum as well as Darlington Raceway.)

Observe with the class that some categories appear to overlap, e.g., "Outdoor Activities" and "Natural Attractions."

Practice opening several categories, scrolling through the attractions included, and opening links for more complete information. Encourage discussion. Why would these places be interesting to visit? Do we know how far away they are? How long do you think this attraction has been available to SC families and tourists?

Show a transparency of the Culminating Assessment instrument. Explain the Data Collection portion and explain that the class field trip will need to be within 25 miles of Columbia.

Work through two or three examples. Demonstrate reading the description, estimating the distance from Columbia, and recording the name and address of the attraction.

(Use National Park Service Properties, Beaches, and Golf, or other categories that you have decided not to assign individually.)

Day 3

Show the Let’s Go portion of the Culminating Assessment instrument. Ask for ideas on how we could obtain the information requested on the chart. Explain to the class that today we will use both a traditional print source (road atlas) and an online resource to determine the distance of these possible field trip destinations from Columbia (and even, in some cases from Brennen!)

Use the example of the Catawba Cultural Center. (From an earlier study of SC, students will recognize the name Catawba, and know that some descendents of these people live near Columbia. The teacher will have added this name and address to the Data Collection Form transparency.)

Review with the class how to look up Catawba, SC, in the index of road atlas and locate Catawba on the map.

Estimate its distance from Columbia. It will be apparent that the distance is greater than the 25 mile limit; nevertheless, use this attraction as an example with the next online resource.

Read aloud the transparency directions for finding MapBlast in "Favorites;" open the site using the presentation device for class viewing. Select "Map an Address" then enter 1536 Tom Steven Rd as the street address; enter Catawba, SC, in the city, state, zip space. (The zip code is not essential.) Click the MapBlast icon and a map will appear with the words "You are Here" identifying the location of the Catawba Cultural Center. Scroll down and select "Driving Directions" and enter information about Brennen as the starting location.

Students will note that it is more than 70 miles from their school, so is not appropriate for this field trip. (Remind them, however, that a letter could be sent requesting information.)

(Using MapBlast to determine the Columbia location of the Mann-Simons Cottage can provide an example of a field trip that is feasible since its distance from the school is given as 4.4. miles, with an approximate travel time of 10.2 minutes.)

Explain that in the last part of the culminating assessment (show transparency), students are asked to make a case for (or against) visiting the attractions they have recorded and verified as within the 25 mile radius. Finally, they are asked to consider what they have read or already know to indicate how long this attraction has been available for citizens to visit. The teacher may suggest the use of such phrases as "in the present time only," " not until 50 years ago," or "before the 1850’s."

Follow-up discussion should include how Columbia has changed over time and how inevitably new attractions will be developed. (Use the Columbia Museum of Art as an example of a continuing attraction that moved into a new building and, thus, has a new address as of summer 1998.)

At this point in the lesson, students may be assigned computer time and work either individually or cooperatively on their assessment. (In a single-computer classroom, students not working online can browse through SC travel brochures or other materials related to the topic. Students, for example, may investigate the telephone directory to discover how Columbia area attractions are included.)

If a computer lab is available for the following day’s class, the teacher may prefer to wait until the entire group can be engaged in the activity. If this is the case, another online site could be introduced at this time to complete the current class session.

Optional Activity

Explain that because our objective included becoming familiar with attractions and places to visit across our state, we used the travelsc.com internet site. This required that students use their knowledge of geographical locations and atlas skills, along with MapBlast to find actual distances.

Introduce BellSouth’s Yellow Pages site (listed in "Favorites" as City Guides, Columbia, SC) as a more direct way to get to Columbia attractions. Observe that this site groups attractions into 9 categories. Ask the students to share their impressions of these terms as compared with the travelsc categories. (Explain the category term, Venue guide.)

Encourage the students to notice sites that are included here and not in travelsc.com, as well as sites found in travelsc.com but not here. (For example, in City Guides, when selecting the category, Museums, note additional suggestions that include the Columbia Fire Department Museum, Fort Jackson Museum, and McKissick Museum.)

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

Culminating Assessment

Student’s name ______________________ Date ________________

Directions:

1. At the computer, select TravelSC from "Favorites."

2. Advance through the site until you are at the Things-to-Do screen.

3. Select your assigned category, _______________________. (Click once)

4. Check each link (words in blue). Read the description and note the location.

5. Use your Data Collection Form to record information.

*If you think it is within 25 miles of Columbia, write it down.

*If you are not sure, look up the location in the road atlas.

*If it is more than 25 miles from Columbia, disregard it. (Don’t record it.)

Data Collection Form

6. From "Favorites," open MapBlast.

7. Check each of the attractions (based on your collected data), and record its approximate distance from your school and the estimated travel time.

*Select "Map an Address"

*Use the address from your data form to retrieve amap with the designation, You Are Here

*Select "Get Driving Directions"

*Enter the "Starting Location" as follows:

Your School Name (label)

School Address (street)

(city, state, zip)

*Click "Drive"

*Record approximate travel time and distance on the Let’s Visit chart

Let’s Visit